difficult zoa,or paly?

[Chriskid]

well i figured i would start a thread on the similarity of tanks that have problems with (what i call picky) animals, and perhaps come to a conclusion as to why.

i my self have difficulty with orange palys(xman,lunar,ez,ext), and palys that have the white lines when closed(people eaters,magicians,ext) i run a most SPS dominate tank, however have a somewhat large zoa,paly, display area. ive tryed these animals through out last year, and the last try so far last week.

my par
alk 7-8
ph 8.1-8.2
cal 440
mag 1300
nitrate undetectable
phos unknown never test

any thoughts? all is welcome

 

[Peter Eichler]

Ever since I've started running oversized skimmers and keeping nutrients much lower about 7 years ago I've struggled with most PE type zoanthids. I feed heavily, but it doesn't seem to matter, they often slowly waste away. Right now 've got a RPE frag that has bounced around between 5 and 15 polyps a few times in the last year that seems to be on the decline again. Magicians I've tried 3 times and now have a pathetic looking frag that just won't bounce back from shipping stress. Also, PPE's 4 times, each ending in failure eventually. Meanwhile, all other zoanthids and all corals and anemones thrive.

One thing to watch out for with these is also amphipods, they really seem to like munching on the "PE" type polyps for some reason. So, some sort of pod scavenger (if you don't have one already) can help if this is a polyp type you're struggling with.

 

[zoolover]

I'm glad I just read that, I just got some bigger palys yesterday (magicians, jokers) and put them in a tank with a billion amphipods. Looks like its time to trim the herd a little. Thanks!

 

[cichlidsrcool]

Maybe the to clean thing is my issue can keep SPS no problem but cant keep Zoas

 

[Chriskid]

i think its mine too but just thought we could talk alittle about it. i just turened off carbon, and feeding alot more at night....we will see i think im also going to build a plankton reactor also.